1
|
Xu K. Insights into the relationship between eye movements and personality traits in restricted visual fields. Sci Rep 2024; 14:10261. [PMID: 38704441 PMCID: PMC11069522 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-60992-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2024] [Accepted: 04/30/2024] [Indexed: 05/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Previous studies have suggested behavioral patterns, such as visual attention and eye movements, relate to individual personality traits. However, these studies mainly focused on free visual tasks, and the impact of visual field restriction remains inadequately understood. The primary objective of this study is to elucidate the patterns of conscious eye movements induced by visual field restriction and to examine how these patterns relate to individual personality traits. Building on previous research, we aim to gain new insights through two behavioral experiments, unraveling the intricate relationship between visual behaviors and individual personality traits. As a result, both Experiment 1 and Experiment 2 revealed differences in eye movements during free observation and visual field restriction. Particularly, simulation results based on the analyzed data showed clear distinctions in eye movements between free observation and visual field restriction conditions. This suggests that eye movements during free observation involve a mixture of conscious and unconscious eye movements. Furthermore, we observed significant correlations between conscious eye movements and personality traits, with more pronounced effects in the visual field restriction condition used in Experiment 2 compared to Experiment 1. These analytical findings provide a novel perspective on human cognitive processes through visual perception.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kuangzhe Xu
- Institute for Promotion of Higher Education, Hirosaki University, Aomori, 036-8560, Japan.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
González-Gualda LM, Vicente-Querol MA, García AS, Molina JP, Latorre JM, Fernández-Sotos P, Fernández-Caballero A. An exploratory study of the effect of age and gender on face scanning during affect recognition in immersive virtual reality. Sci Rep 2024; 14:5553. [PMID: 38448515 PMCID: PMC10918108 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-55774-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/01/2023] [Accepted: 02/26/2024] [Indexed: 03/08/2024] Open
Abstract
A person with impaired emotion recognition is not able to correctly identify facial expressions represented by other individuals. The aim of the present study is to assess eyes gaze and facial emotion recognition in a healthy population using dynamic avatars in immersive virtual reality (IVR). For the first time, the viewing of each area of interest of the face in IVR is studied by gender and age. This work in healthy people is conducted to assess the future usefulness of IVR in patients with deficits in the recognition of facial expressions. Seventy-four healthy volunteers participated in the study. The materials used were a laptop computer, a game controller, and a head-mounted display. Dynamic virtual faces randomly representing the six basic emotions plus neutral expression were used as stimuli. After the virtual human represented an emotion, a response panel was displayed with the seven possible options. Besides storing the hits and misses, the software program internally divided the faces into different areas of interest (AOIs) and recorded how long participants looked at each AOI. As regards the overall accuracy of the participants' responses, hits decreased from the youngest to the middle-aged and older adults. Also, all three groups spent the highest percentage of time looking at the eyes, but younger adults had the highest percentage. It is also noteworthy that attention to the face compared to the background decreased with age. Moreover, the hits between women and men were remarkably similar and, in fact, there were no statistically significant differences between them. In general, men paid more attention to the eyes than women, but women paid more attention to the forehead and mouth. In contrast to previous work, our study indicates that there are no differences between men and women in facial emotion recognition. Moreover, in line with previous work, the percentage of face viewing time for younger adults is higher than for older adults. However, contrary to earlier studies, older adults look more at the eyes than at the mouth.Consistent with other studies, the eyes are the AOI with the highest percentage of viewing time. For men the most viewed AOI is the eyes for all emotions in both hits and misses. Women look more at the eyes for all emotions, except for joy, fear, and anger on hits. On misses, they look more into the eyes for almost all emotions except surprise and fear.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Luz M González-Gualda
- Servicio de Salud de Castilla-La Mancha, Complejo Hospitalario Universitario de Albacete, Servicio de Salud Mental, 02004, Albacete, Spain
| | - Miguel A Vicente-Querol
- Neurocognition and Emotion Unit, Instituto de Investigación en Informática de Albacete, 02071, Albacete, Spain
| | - Arturo S García
- Neurocognition and Emotion Unit, Instituto de Investigación en Informática de Albacete, 02071, Albacete, Spain
- Departmento de Sistemas Informáticos, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, 02071, Albacete, Spain
| | - José P Molina
- Neurocognition and Emotion Unit, Instituto de Investigación en Informática de Albacete, 02071, Albacete, Spain
- Departmento de Sistemas Informáticos, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, 02071, Albacete, Spain
| | - José M Latorre
- Departmento de Psicología, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, 02071, Albacete, Spain
| | - Patricia Fernández-Sotos
- Servicio de Salud de Castilla-La Mancha, Complejo Hospitalario Universitario de Albacete, Servicio de Salud Mental, 02004, Albacete, Spain
- CIBERSAM-ISCIII (Biomedical Research Networking Centre in Mental Health, Instituto de Salud Carlos III), 28016, Madrid, Spain
| | - Antonio Fernández-Caballero
- Neurocognition and Emotion Unit, Instituto de Investigación en Informática de Albacete, 02071, Albacete, Spain.
- Departmento de Sistemas Informáticos, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, 02071, Albacete, Spain.
- CIBERSAM-ISCIII (Biomedical Research Networking Centre in Mental Health, Instituto de Salud Carlos III), 28016, Madrid, Spain.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Chen J, van den Bos E, Westenberg PM. Does gaze anxiety predict actual gaze avoidance and is it more informative than social anxiety? J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry 2024; 82:101896. [PMID: 37741178 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2023.101896] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2022] [Revised: 07/28/2023] [Accepted: 08/10/2023] [Indexed: 09/25/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES In recent years eye-tracking studies have provided converging evidence that socially anxious individuals avoid looking at other people's faces in social situations. In addition to these objective measures, the Gaze Anxiety Rating Scale (GARS) has increasingly been used as a self-report measure of gaze avoidance. However, extant results concerning its predictive validity were inconsistent. Moreover, no study has considered social anxiety and gaze anxiety together to examine their relative contributions to actual gaze behavior. METHODS To address these two questions, eye-tracking data collected from 81 female students during the initial 6 min of a face-to-face conversation with a female confederate were analyzed. Gaze anxiety and social anxiety were measured via the GARS and the Leibowitz Social Anxiety Scale. RESULTS The results revealed that gaze anxiety was associated with reduced face gaze while speaking. Social anxiety was not only associated with decreased face gaze during speaking, but also across the initial conversation. Moreover, there was no evidence that gaze anxiety made an additional contribution to social anxiety in predicting face gaze behavior. LIMITATIONS This study examined face gaze instead of eye gaze. Additionally, the self-report data were not collected on the same day as the eye-tracking data. CONCLUSIONS The findings indicate that, in a community sample, gaze anxiety does predict actual gaze behavior during a face-to-face initial encounter, but social anxiety is a stronger predictor.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jiemiao Chen
- Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Wassenaarseweg 52, 2333 AK, Leiden, the Netherlands.
| | - Esther van den Bos
- Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Wassenaarseweg 52, 2333 AK, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - P Michiel Westenberg
- Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Wassenaarseweg 52, 2333 AK, Leiden, the Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Clin E, Kissine M. Neurotypical, but not autistic, adults might experience distress when looking at someone avoiding eye contact: A live face-to-face paradigm. AUTISM : THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND PRACTICE 2023; 27:1949-1959. [PMID: 36688307 DOI: 10.1177/13623613221148553] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
LAY ABSTRACT What is already known about the topic?Autistics are usually reported to share less eye contact than neurotypicals with their interlocutors. However, the reason why autistics might pay less attention to eyes looking at them is still unknown: some autistics express being hyper-aroused by this eye contact, while some eye-tracking studies suggest that eye contact is associated with hypo-arousal in autism.What this paper adds?This study is based on a highly controlled live face-to-face paradigm, combining a wearable eye-tracker (to study eye behaviours) with electrodermal activity sensors (to assess potential stress). We draw a nuanced picture of social attention in autism, as our autistic participants did not differ from our neurotypical group in their eye behaviours nor their skin conductance responses. However, we found that neurotypicals, compared to autistics, seemed to be much more distressed when their interlocutor did not gaze at them during the experiment.Implications for practice, research or policy:Our study encourages to consider social interaction difficulties in autism as a relational issue, instead as an individual deficit. This step might be first taken in research, by implementing paradigms sensitive to the experimenter's role and attitude.
Collapse
|
5
|
Gordillo F, Arana JM, Lamas B, Pérez MÁ. Analysis of attentional biases in anxiety using 24 facial priming sequences. Cogn Process 2023; 24:339-351. [PMID: 36934379 DOI: 10.1007/s10339-023-01132-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2022] [Accepted: 03/07/2023] [Indexed: 03/20/2023]
Abstract
The processing of emotional facial expressions helps people to adjust to the physical and social environment. Furthermore, mental disorders such as anxiety have been linked to attentional biases in the processing of this type of information. Nevertheless, there are still contradictory results that might be due to the methodology used and to individual differences in the manifestation of anxiety. Our research goal was to use 24 facial priming sequences to analyse attentional biases in the detection of facial expressions of fear, considering the levels and the ways in which individuals express anxiety. With higher levels of cognitive anxiety and general trait anxiety, those sequences that began in the upper half (vs. lower half) elicited a speedier response in the detection of fear. The results are discussed within the context of other techniques and disorders that prompt a deficit in the processing of facial information.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Fernando Gordillo
- Departamento de Psicología Básica, Psicobiología y Metodología de las Ciencias del Comportamiento, Universidad de Salamanca, Avda. de La Merced, 109-131, 37005, Salamanca, Spain.
| | - José M Arana
- Departamento de Psicología Básica, Psicobiología y Metodología de las Ciencias del Comportamiento, Universidad de Salamanca, Avda. de La Merced, 109-131, 37005, Salamanca, Spain
| | - Beatriz Lamas
- Departmento de Psicología, Universidad Camilo José Cela, Castillo de Alarcón nº 49, 28692-Villafranca del Castillo, Madrid, Spain
| | - Miguel Ángel Pérez
- Departmento de Psicología, Universidad Camilo José Cela, Castillo de Alarcón nº 49, 28692-Villafranca del Castillo, Madrid, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Marchesi S, Abubshait A, Kompatsiari K, Wu Y, Wykowska A. Cultural differences in joint attention and engagement in mutual gaze with a robot face. Sci Rep 2023; 13:11689. [PMID: 37468517 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-38704-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2023] [Accepted: 07/13/2023] [Indexed: 07/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Joint attention is a pivotal mechanism underlying human ability to interact with one another. The fundamental nature of joint attention in the context of social cognition has led researchers to develop tasks that address this mechanism and operationalize it in a laboratory setting, in the form of a gaze cueing paradigm. In the present study, we addressed the question of whether engaging in joint attention with a robot face is culture-specific. We adapted a classical gaze-cueing paradigm such that a robot avatar cued participants' gaze subsequent to either engaging participants in eye contact or not. Our critical question of interest was whether the gaze cueing effect (GCE) is stable across different cultures, especially if cognitive resources to exert top-down control are reduced. To achieve the latter, we introduced a mathematical stress task orthogonally to the gaze cueing protocol. Results showed larger GCE in the Singapore sample, relative to the Italian sample, independent of gaze type (eye contact vs. no eye contact) or amount of experienced stress, which translates to available cognitive resources. Moreover, since after each block, participants rated how engaged they felt with the robot avatar during the task, we observed that Italian participants rated as more engaging the avatar during the eye contact blocks, relative to no eye contact while Singaporean participants did not show any difference in engagement relative to the gaze. We discuss the results in terms of cultural differences in robot-induced joint attention, and engagement in eye contact, as well as the dissociation between implicit and explicit measures related to processing of gaze.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Serena Marchesi
- Social Cognition in Human-Robot Interaction, Italian Institute of Technology, Genova, Italy
- Robotics and Autonomous Systems Department, A*STAR Institute for Infocomm Research, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Abdulaziz Abubshait
- Social Cognition in Human-Robot Interaction, Italian Institute of Technology, Genova, Italy
| | - Kyveli Kompatsiari
- Social Cognition in Human-Robot Interaction, Italian Institute of Technology, Genova, Italy
| | - Yan Wu
- Robotics and Autonomous Systems Department, A*STAR Institute for Infocomm Research, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Agnieszka Wykowska
- Social Cognition in Human-Robot Interaction, Italian Institute of Technology, Genova, Italy.
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Clin E, Kissine M. Listener- Versus Speaker-Oriented Disfluencies in Autistic Adults: Insights From Wearable Eye-Tracking and Skin Conductance Within a Live Face-to-Face Paradigm. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2023:1-19. [PMID: 37418752 DOI: 10.1044/2023_jslhr-23-00002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/09/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE Our study addresses three main questions: (a) Do autistics and neurotypicals produce different patterns of disfluencies, depending on the experimenter's direct versus averted gaze? (b) Are these patterns correlated to gender, skin conductance responses, fixations on the experimenter's face, alexithymia, or social anxiety scores? Lastly, (c) can eye-tracking and electrodermal activity data be used in distinguishing listener- versus speaker-oriented disfluencies? METHOD Within a live face-to-face paradigm combining a wearable eye-tracker with electrodermal activity sensors, 80 adults (40 autistics, 40 neurotypicals) defined words in front of an experimenter who was either staring at their eyes (direct gaze condition) or looking elsewhere (averted gaze condition). RESULTS Autistics produce less listener-oriented (uh, um) and more speaker-oriented (prolongations, breath) disfluencies than neurotypicals. In both groups, men produce less um than women. Both autistics' and neurotypicals' speech are influenced by whether their interlocutor systematically looks at them in the eyes or not, but their reactions go in opposite directions. Disfluencies seem to primarily be linguistic phenomena as experienced stress, social attention, alexithymia, and social anxiety scores do not influence any of the reported results. Finally, eye-tracking and electrodermal activity data suggest that laughter could be a listener-oriented disfluency. CONCLUSIONS This article studies disfluencies in a fine-grained way in autistic and neurotypical adults while controlling for social attention, experienced stress, and experimental condition (direct vs. averted gaze). It adds to current literature by (a) enlightening our knowledge of speech in autism, (b) opening new perspectives on disfluency patterns as important signals in social interaction, (c) addressing theoretical issues on the dichotomy between listener- and speaker-oriented disfluencies, and (d) considering understudied phenomena as potential disfluencies (e.g., laughter, breath). SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.23549550.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Elise Clin
- ACTE, LaDisco and ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Mikhail Kissine
- ACTE, LaDisco and ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Chen J, van den Bos E, Karch JD, Westenberg PM. Social anxiety is related to reduced face gaze during a naturalistic social interaction. ANXIETY, STRESS, AND COPING 2023; 36:460-474. [PMID: 36153759 DOI: 10.1080/10615806.2022.2125961] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2021] [Revised: 09/12/2022] [Accepted: 09/12/2022] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Social anxiety has long been related to reduced eye contact, and this feature is seen as a causal and a maintaining factor of social anxiety disorder. The present research adds to the literature by investigating the relationship between social anxiety and visual avoidance of faces in a reciprocal face-to-face conversation, while taking into account two aspects of conversations as potential moderating factors: conversational role and level of intimacy. METHOD Eighty-five female students (17-25 years) completed the Leibowitz Social Anxiety Scale and had a face-to-face getting-acquainted conversation with a female confederate. We alternated conversational role (talking versus listening) and manipulated intimacy of the topics (low versus high). Participants' gaze behavior was registered with Tobii eye-tracking glasses. Three dependent measures were extracted regarding fixations on the face of the confederate: total duration, proportion of fixations, and mean duration. RESULTS The results revealed that higher levels of social anxiety were associated with reduced face gaze on all three measures. The relation with total fixation duration was stronger for low intimate topics. The relation with mean fixation duration was stronger during listening than during speaking. CONCLUSION The results highlight the importance of studying gaze behavior in a naturalistic social interaction.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jiemiao Chen
- Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | | | - Julian D Karch
- Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | | |
Collapse
|
9
|
Romagnano V, Sokolov AN, Fallgatter AJ, Pavlova MA. Do subtle cultural differences sculpt face pareidolia? SCHIZOPHRENIA (HEIDELBERG, GERMANY) 2023; 9:28. [PMID: 37142598 PMCID: PMC10160123 DOI: 10.1038/s41537-023-00355-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2023] [Accepted: 04/10/2023] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
Face tuning to non-face images such as shadows or grilled toasts is termed face pareidolia. Face-pareidolia images represent a valuable tool for investigation of social cognition in mental disorders. Here we examined (i) whether, and, if so, how face pareidolia is affected by subtle cultural differences; and (ii) whether this impact is modulated by gender. With this purpose in mind, females and males from Northern Italy were administered a set of Face-n-Thing images, photographs of objects such as houses or waves to a varying degree resembling a face. Participants were presented with pareidolia images with canonical upright orientation and display inversion that heavily affects face pareidolia. In a two-alternative forced-choice paradigm, beholders had to indicate whether each image resembled a face. The outcome was compared with the findings obtained in the Southwest of Germany. With upright orientation, neither cultural background nor gender affected face pareidolia. As expected, display inversion generally mired face pareidolia. Yet, while display inversion led to a drastic reduction of face impression in German males as compared to females, in Italians, no gender differences were found. In a nutshell, subtle cultural differences do not sculpt face pareidolia, but instead affect face impression in a gender-specific way under unusual viewing conditions. Clarification of the origins of these effects requires tailored brain imaging work. Implications for transcultural psychiatry, in particular, for schizophrenia research, are highlighted and discussed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Valentina Romagnano
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen Center for Mental Health (TüCMH), Medical School and University Hospital, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Alexander N Sokolov
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen Center for Mental Health (TüCMH), Medical School and University Hospital, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Andreas J Fallgatter
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen Center for Mental Health (TüCMH), Medical School and University Hospital, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Marina A Pavlova
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen Center for Mental Health (TüCMH), Medical School and University Hospital, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Looking at faces in the wild. Sci Rep 2023; 13:783. [PMID: 36646709 PMCID: PMC9842722 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-25268-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2022] [Accepted: 11/28/2022] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Faces are key to everyday social interactions, but our understanding of social attention is based on experiments that present images of faces on computer screens. Advances in wearable eye-tracking devices now enable studies in unconstrained natural settings but this approach has been limited by manual coding of fixations. Here we introduce an automatic 'dynamic region of interest' approach that registers eye-fixations to bodies and faces seen while a participant moves through the environment. We show that just 14% of fixations are to faces of passersby, contrasting with prior screen-based studies that suggest faces automatically capture visual attention. We also demonstrate the potential for this new tool to help understand differences in individuals' social attention, and the content of their perceptual exposure to other people. Together, this can form the basis of a new paradigm for studying social attention 'in the wild' that opens new avenues for theoretical, applied and clinical research.
Collapse
|
11
|
Crimon C, Barbir M, Hagihara H, de Araujo E, Nozawa S, Shinya Y, Abboub N, Tsuji S. Mask wearing in Japanese and French nursery schools: The perceived impact of masks on communication. Front Psychol 2022; 13. [PMID: 36420380 PMCID: PMC9677818 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.874264] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, covering the mouth region with a face mask became pervasive in many regions of the world, potentially impacting how people communicate with and around children. To explore the characteristics of this masked communication, we asked nursery school educators, who have been at the forefront of daily masked interaction with children, about their perception of daily communicative interactions while wearing a mask in an online survey. We collected data from French and Japanese nursery school educators to gain an understanding of commonalities and differences in communicative behavior with face masks given documented cultural differences in pre-pandemic mask wearing habits, face scanning patterns, and communicative behavior. Participants (177 French and 138 Japanese educators) reported a perceived change in their own communicative behavior while wearing a mask, with decreases in language quantity and increases in language quality and non-verbal cues. Comparable changes in their team members’ and children’s communicative behaviors were also reported. Moreover, our results suggest that these changes in educators’ communicative behaviors are linked to their attitudes toward mask wearing and their potential difficulty in communicating following its use. These findings shed light on the impact of pandemic-induced mask wearing on children’s daily communicative environment.
Collapse
|
12
|
Schmid I, Witkower Z, Götz FM, Stieger S. Registered report: Social face evaluation: ethnicity-specific differences in the judgement of trustworthiness of faces and facial parts. Sci Rep 2022; 12:18311. [PMID: 36316450 PMCID: PMC9622746 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-22709-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2021] [Accepted: 10/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Social face evaluation is a common and consequential element of everyday life based on the judgement of trustworthiness. However, the particular facial regions that guide such trustworthiness judgements are largely unknown. It is also unclear whether different facial regions are consistently utilized to guide judgments for different ethnic groups, and whether previous exposure to specific ethnicities in one's social environment has an influence on trustworthiness judgements made from faces or facial regions. This registered report addressed these questions through a global online survey study that recruited Asian, Black, Latino, and White raters (N = 4580). Raters were shown full faces and specific parts of the face for an ethnically diverse, sex-balanced set of 32 targets and rated targets' trustworthiness. Multilevel modelling showed that in forming trustworthiness judgements, raters relied most strongly on the eyes (with no substantial information loss vis-à-vis full faces). Corroborating ingroup-outgroup effects, raters rated faces and facial parts of targets with whom they shared their ethnicity, sex, or eye color as significantly more trustworthy. Exposure to ethnic groups in raters' social environment predicted trustworthiness ratings of other ethnic groups in nuanced ways. That is, raters from the ambient ethnic majority provided slightly higher trustworthiness ratings for stimuli of their own ethnicity compared to minority ethnicities. In contrast, raters from an ambient ethnic minority (e.g., immigrants) provided substantially lower trustworthiness ratings for stimuli of the ethnic majority. Taken together, the current study provides a new window into the psychological processes underlying social face evaluation and its cultural generalizability. PROTOCOL REGISTRATION: The stage 1 protocol for this Registered Report was accepted in principle on 7 January 2022. The protocol, as accepted by the journal, can be found at: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.18319244 .
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Irina Schmid
- grid.459693.4Department of Psychology and Psychodynamics, Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences, Krems an der Donau, Austria
| | - Zachary Witkower
- grid.17063.330000 0001 2157 2938Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - Friedrich M. Götz
- grid.17091.3e0000 0001 2288 9830Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ,grid.47840.3f0000 0001 2181 7878Institute of Personality and Social Research, University of California, Berkeley, USA
| | - Stefan Stieger
- grid.459693.4Department of Psychology and Psychodynamics, Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences, Krems an der Donau, Austria
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
Dalmaso M, Vicovaro M, Watanabe K. Cross-cultural evidence of a space-ethnicity association in face categorisation. CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s12144-022-02920-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
AbstractAccording to a space-valence association, individuals tend to relate negatively- and positively-connoted stimuli with the left and right side of space, respectively. So far, only a few studies have explored whether this phenomenon can also emerge for social dimensions associated with facial stimuli. Here, we adopted a cross-cultural approach and conducted two experiments with the main aim to test whether a left–right space-valence association can also emerge for other- vs. own-race faces. Asian Japanese (Experiment 1) and White Italian (Experiment 2) participants engaged in a speeded binary classification task in which a central placed face had to be classified as either Asian or White. Manual responses were provided through a left- vs. right-side button. In both experiments, other-race faces elicited faster responses than own-race faces, in line with the well-documented other-race categorisation advantage. Moreover, evidence of an association between space and ethnic membership also arose and, interestingly, was similar in both groups. Indeed, Asian faces were responded to faster with the right-side key than with the left-side key, whereas response side had no effect for White faces. These results are discussed with regard to possible cross-cultural differences in group perception.
Collapse
|
14
|
Kim G, Seong SH, Hong SS, Choi E. Impact of face masks and sunglasses on emotion recognition in South Koreans. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0263466. [PMID: 35113970 PMCID: PMC8812856 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0263466] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2021] [Accepted: 01/19/2022] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, wearing masks has become essential for social interaction, disturbing emotion recognition in daily life. In the present study, a total of 39 Korean participants (female = 20, mean age = 24.2 years) inferred seven emotions (happiness, surprise, fear, sadness, disgust, anger, surprise, and neutral) from uncovered, mask-covered, sunglasses-covered faces. The recognition rates were the lowest under mask conditions, followed by the sunglasses and uncovered conditions. In identifying emotions, different emotion types were associated with different areas of the face. Specifically, the mouth was the most critical area for happiness, surprise, sadness, disgust, and anger recognition, but fear was most recognized from the eyes. By simultaneously comparing faces with different parts covered, we were able to more accurately examine the impact of different facial areas on emotion recognition. We discuss the potential cultural differences and the ways in which individuals can cope with communication in which facial expressions are paramount.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Garam Kim
- School of Psychology, Korea University, Sungbuk-gu, Seoul, South Korea
| | - So Hyun Seong
- School of Psychology, Korea University, Sungbuk-gu, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Seok-Sung Hong
- Department of IT Psychology, Ajou University, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon, South Korea
| | - Eunsoo Choi
- School of Psychology, Korea University, Sungbuk-gu, Seoul, South Korea
- * E-mail:
| |
Collapse
|
15
|
Holleman GA, Hooge ITC, Huijding J, Deković M, Kemner C, Hessels RS. Gaze and speech behavior in parent–child interactions: The role of conflict and cooperation. CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s12144-021-02532-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
AbstractA primary mode of human social behavior is face-to-face interaction. In this study, we investigated the characteristics of gaze and its relation to speech behavior during video-mediated face-to-face interactions between parents and their preadolescent children. 81 parent–child dyads engaged in conversations about cooperative and conflictive family topics. We used a dual-eye tracking setup that is capable of concurrently recording eye movements, frontal video, and audio from two conversational partners. Our results show that children spoke more in the cooperation-scenario whereas parents spoke more in the conflict-scenario. Parents gazed slightly more at the eyes of their children in the conflict-scenario compared to the cooperation-scenario. Both parents and children looked more at the other's mouth region while listening compared to while speaking. Results are discussed in terms of the role that parents and children take during cooperative and conflictive interactions and how gaze behavior may support and coordinate such interactions.
Collapse
|
16
|
Human face and gaze perception is highly context specific and involves bottom-up and top-down neural processing. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2021; 132:304-323. [PMID: 34861296 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.11.042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2021] [Revised: 11/24/2021] [Accepted: 11/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
This review summarizes human perception and processing of face and gaze signals. Face and gaze signals are important means of non-verbal social communication. The review highlights that: (1) some evidence is available suggesting that the perception and processing of facial information starts in the prenatal period; (2) the perception and processing of face identity, expression and gaze direction is highly context specific, the effect of race and culture being a case in point. Culture affects by means of experiential shaping and social categorization the way in which information on face and gaze is collected and perceived; (3) face and gaze processing occurs in the so-called 'social brain'. Accumulating evidence suggests that the processing of facial identity, facial emotional expression and gaze involves two parallel and interacting pathways: a fast and crude subcortical route and a slower cortical pathway. The flow of information is bi-directional and includes bottom-up and top-down processing. The cortical networks particularly include the fusiform gyrus, superior temporal sulcus (STS), intraparietal sulcus, temporoparietal junction and medial prefrontal cortex.
Collapse
|
17
|
Zhang X, Dalmaso M, Castelli L, Fu S, Galfano G. Cross-cultural asymmetries in oculomotor interference elicited by gaze distractors belonging to Asian and White faces. Sci Rep 2021; 11:20410. [PMID: 34650168 PMCID: PMC8516900 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-99954-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2021] [Accepted: 10/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The averted gaze of others triggers reflexive attentional orienting in the corresponding direction. This phenomenon can be modulated by many social factors. Here, we used an eye-tracking technique to investigate the role of ethnic membership in a cross-cultural oculomotor interference study. Chinese and Italian participants were required to perform a saccade whose direction might be either congruent or incongruent with the averted-gaze of task-irrelevant faces belonging to Asian and White individuals. The results showed that, for Chinese participants, White faces elicited a larger oculomotor interference than Asian faces. By contrast, Italian participants exhibited a similar oculomotor interference effect for both Asian and White faces. Hence, Chinese participants found it more difficult to suppress eye-gaze processing of White rather than Asian faces. The findings provide converging evidence that social attention can be modulated by social factors characterizing both the face stimulus and the participants. The data are discussed with reference to possible cross-cultural differences in perceived social status.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xinyuan Zhang
- Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padova, 35131, Padua, Italy.,Department of Psychology and Center for Brain and Cognitive Sciences, School of Education, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, 510006, China
| | - Mario Dalmaso
- Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padova, 35131, Padua, Italy.
| | - Luigi Castelli
- Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padova, 35131, Padua, Italy
| | - Shimin Fu
- Department of Psychology and Center for Brain and Cognitive Sciences, School of Education, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, 510006, China
| | - Giovanni Galfano
- Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padova, 35131, Padua, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
18
|
Kang J, Kang S, Jeong E, Kim EH. Age and Cultural Differences in Recognitions of Emotions from Masked Faces among Koreans and Americans. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2021; 18:ijerph181910555. [PMID: 34639857 PMCID: PMC8507777 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph181910555] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2021] [Revised: 09/27/2021] [Accepted: 10/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
This study investigates age and cultural differences in the negative effects of senders’ wearing masks on receivers’ readabilities of senders’ facially expressed emotions in interpersonal interactions. An online experiment was thus conducted with Koreans and Americans aged over 20 years. Based on sampling quotas by nationality, age group and gender, Korean (n = 240) and American (n = 273) participants were recruited from panel members of a Korean research company and Amazon’s Mechanical Turk via email and the website, respectively. The participants played receiver roles to infer senders’ facially expressed emotions presented in photos in the experiment. They judged emotions facially expressed by the senders without masks and with masks are shown in photos. The results revealed that the senders’ wearing masks reduced the readabilities of the senders’ facially expressed anger among participants aged 30–49 years more than among participants aged 20–29 years. The senders’ wearing masks decreased the readabilities of the senders’ facially expressed fear for participants in their 50’s more than for participants in their 20’s. When the senders wore masks, the readabilities of the senders’ facially expressed happiness dropped among participants aged over 60 years more than among participants aged 20–49 years. When senders wore masks, American participants’ readabilities of disgust, fear, sadness and happiness expressed in the senders’ faces declined more than Korean participants’ readabilities of those emotions. The implications and limitations of these findings are discussed.
Collapse
|
19
|
Ma X, Gu H, Zhao J. Atypical gaze patterns to facial feature areas in autism spectrum disorders reveal age and culture effects: A meta-analysis of eye-tracking studies. Autism Res 2021; 14:2625-2639. [PMID: 34542246 DOI: 10.1002/aur.2607] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2021] [Revised: 08/07/2021] [Accepted: 08/21/2021] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Children and adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often present with atypical gaze patterns to others' faces, a finding substantiated throughout the literature. Yet, a quantification of atypical gaze patterns to different facial regions (e.g., eyes versus mouth) in ASD remains controversial. Also few study has investigated how age and culture impacted the pattern of gaze abnormalities in ASD. This research therefore conducted a meta-analysis of eye-tracking studies to evaluate age and culture effect on atypical gaze patterns of face processing in ASD. A total of 75 articles (91 studies) and 4209 individuals (ASD: 2027; controls: 2182) across all age ranges (i.e., childhood through to adulthood) from both Eastern and Western cultures were included in this meta-analysis. Individuals with ASD yielded shorter fixation durations to the eyes than individuals without ASD. Group differences in the time spent fixating on the eyes were not modulated by age, but affected by culture. Effect size in the eastern culture was larger than that in the western culture. In contrast, group differences on time spent looking at the mouth were not significant, but changed with age and modulated by culture. Relative to the neurotypical controls, Western individuals with ASD spent more time looking at the mouth from school age, whereas Eastern individuals with ASD did not gaze longer on mouth until adulthood. These results add to the body of evidence supporting atypical gaze behaviors to eyes in ASD and provide new insights into a potential mouth compensation strategy that develops with age in ASD. LAY SUMMARY: Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often show atypical gaze patterns when looking at others' faces compared to neurotypical individuals. This paper examines the role of age and culture on pattern of gaze abnormalities in individuals with ASD. Results show that reduction of gaze on eyes in ASD is stable across all ages and cultures, while increase of gaze on mouth emerges as individuals with ASD get older. The findings provide a developmental insight to the gaze patterns on the autism spectrum across culture.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xue'er Ma
- School of Psychology, Shaanxi Normal University, Shaanxi Provincial Key Research Center of Child Mental and Behavioral Health, Xi'an, China
| | - Haixia Gu
- School of Psychology, Shaanxi Normal University, Shaanxi Provincial Key Research Center of Child Mental and Behavioral Health, Xi'an, China
| | - Jingjing Zhao
- School of Psychology, Shaanxi Normal University, Shaanxi Provincial Key Research Center of Child Mental and Behavioral Health, Xi'an, China
| |
Collapse
|
20
|
Haensel JX, Smith TJ, Senju A. Cultural differences in mutual gaze during face-to-face interactions: A dual head-mounted eye-tracking study. VISUAL COGNITION 2021. [DOI: 10.1080/13506285.2021.1928354] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer X. Haensel
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK
| | - Tim J. Smith
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK
| | - Atsushi Senju
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK
| |
Collapse
|
21
|
Abstract
There is a long history of interest in looking behavior during human interaction. With the advance of (wearable) video-based eye trackers, it has become possible to measure gaze during many different interactions. We outline the different types of eye-tracking setups that currently exist to investigate gaze during interaction. The setups differ mainly with regard to the nature of the eye-tracking signal (head- or world-centered) and the freedom of movement allowed for the participants. These features place constraints on the research questions that can be answered about human interaction. We end with a decision tree to help researchers judge the appropriateness of specific setups.
Collapse
|
22
|
Ruba AL, Pollak SD. Children's emotion inferences from masked faces: Implications for social interactions during COVID-19. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0243708. [PMID: 33362251 PMCID: PMC7757816 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0243708] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2020] [Accepted: 11/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
To slow the progression of COVID-19, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have recommended wearing face coverings. However, very little is known about how occluding parts of the face might impact the emotion inferences that children make during social interactions. The current study recruited a racially diverse sample of school-aged (7- to 13-years) children from publicly funded after-school programs. Children made inferences from facial configurations that were not covered, wearing sunglasses to occlude the eyes, or wearing surgical masks to occlude the mouth. Children were still able to make accurate inferences about emotions, even when parts of the faces were covered. These data suggest that while there may be some challenges for children incurred by others wearing masks, in combination with other contextual cues, masks are unlikely to dramatically impair children's social interactions in their everyday lives.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ashley L. Ruba
- Department of Psychology and Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin – Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
| | - Seth D. Pollak
- Department of Psychology and Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin – Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
| |
Collapse
|
23
|
Haensel JX, Ishikawa M, Itakura S, Smith TJ, Senju A. Cultural influences on face scanning are consistent across infancy and adulthood. Infant Behav Dev 2020; 61:101503. [PMID: 33190091 PMCID: PMC7768814 DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2020.101503] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2020] [Revised: 10/27/2020] [Accepted: 10/28/2020] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
The emergence of cultural differences in face scanning is thought to be shaped by social experience. However, previous studies mainly investigated eye movements of adults and little is known about early development. The current study recorded eye movements of British and Japanese infants (aged 10 and 16 months) and adults, who were presented with static and dynamic faces on screen. Cultural differences were observed across all age groups, with British participants exhibiting more mouth scanning, and Japanese individuals showing increased central face (nose) scanning for dynamic stimuli. Age-related influences independent of culture were also revealed, with a shift from eye to mouth scanning between 10 and 16 months, while adults distributed their gaze more flexibly. Against our prediction, no age-related increases in cultural differences were observed, suggesting the possibility that cultural differences are largely manifest by 10 months of age. Overall, the findings suggest that individuals adopt visual strategies in line with their cultural background from early in infancy, pointing to the development of a highly adaptive face processing system that is shaped by early sociocultural experience.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer X Haensel
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HX, United Kingdom.
| | - Mitsuhiko Ishikawa
- Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University, Yoshida-honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan
| | - Shoji Itakura
- Center for Baby Science, Doshisha University, 4-1-1 Kizugawadai, Kizugawa, Kyoto, 619-0225, Japan
| | - Tim J Smith
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HX, United Kingdom
| | - Atsushi Senju
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HX, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|